While we’ve heard a lot about former daytime talk show host Wendy Williams lately, from her plans for returning to the spotlight to how her brother feels about Williams’ supposed marriage, it’s been a few months since we last heard what was going on with her financial issues. Williams has been locked in a battle with her bank since early this year after the institution froze her accounts, with her being appointed with a full time financial guardian in May. Now, Williams’ son has responded to claims that he’s partially to blame for his embattled mother’s money troubles.
What Did Wendy Williams' Son Say About His Part In Her Financial Problems?
It was back in February that we heard that Wendy Williams, who was already dealing with a number of health issues serious enough to keep her off of her beloved talk show for the entire season up to that point, was also involved in a fight with her bank, Wells Fargo, over her financial accounts. We’re now hearing that Williams’ son, Kevin Hunter Jr., is allegedly partly to blame for her conflict with her bank, but Hunter recently responded to those claims in a statement to The U.S. Sun, which says:
I vehemently deny any allegations of unauthorized use of my mother’s American Express Card. This is a false narrative perpetuated to justify freezing her accounts.
So, you are likely wondering how this supposed unauthorized credit card use relates to Wells Fargo cutting Williams’ off from her money and eventually seeking a court order to have a financial guardian placed in control of the star’s accounts (which reportedly made Williams unhappy). There are a lot of pieces to this story, so let’s get into that now.
Why Is Wendy Williams’ Son Being Blamed For Her Financial Problems?
According to a source for The U.S. Sun, Hunter “spent around $100,000 on Wendy's personal American Express card” which was said to be unauthorized by Williams, and had been “demanding” that his mother's advisor pay the bill instead of Williams herself, which helped lead to her accounts being frozen.
LaShawn Thomas, an attorney who was representing Williams at the start of her battle with Wells Fargo but who is no longer working with her, detailed an incident from January of this year to the outlet, which she believes helped lead to the conflict over Williams’ money. According to Thomas, she met Williams and her son at a Wells Fargo branch in Florida days before the bank officially denied her access to her accounts.
They were there to get Williams’ bank statements, which had been sent to her home in New York instead of where she was staying in the sunshine state, while Hunter had also wanted to set up online banking for his mom for her time in Florida. They were told by the branch manager that they’d need to speak with a Wells Fargo advisor, so he called Lori Schiller, who had been Williams long-time financial advisor.
Thomas said that when the manager returned to them, he relayed Schiller’s message that she would talk to Williams, but only if she were alone in the room when speaking with her. When Williams said she would at least like to have Thomas, her lawyer, present for the conversation, Schiller wouldn’t talk to her and they had to leave the bank without the information they went there to get. Another source has confirmed what happened, and that it led to concern because Williams hadn’t ever been known to go into a Wells Fargo branch with others and seek details about her financials.
Now, it’s worth noting that when we first heard about Williams’ trouble with Wells Fargo, it was said that the bank took action because of Schiller telling officials there that Williams was “of unsound mind,” and it now sounds like that may have been the result of this incident at the bank branch.
However, it’s also worth paying attention to the fact that Schiller had been fired by Williams at some point before her accounts were frozen, with the reported reason for that action being “malfeasance” from Schiller with regards to Williams money, along with “improper conduct in relation to their professional relationship.”
Just a few days ago, Thomas took to Instagram to post about the situation with Williams, and alleged that she’s been “impeded in my attempts to communicate with Wendy by the court” because “the judge and Wells Fargo did not want me on the case because I couldn't be bought,” so they alleged that there was a conflict of interest with Thomas representing Williams, largely because she also represents her ex-husband, Kevin Hunter (who’s made his own claims regarding William’s poor treatment by her show’s producers).
It was once thought that Wendy Williams would be allowed full access of her money and American Express card by the end of July, but that hasn’t happened yet. Unfortunately, it seems that this situation will take a while longer to clear up, but all we can hope for is that all decisions made really do benefit Williams as she plans her career comeback.
